Springfield daily republic. [volume] (Springfield, O. [Ohio]) 1887-1888, 1887-05-19
A LUCKY QUARTER.
A MILl.IoNAiRE'S 25 CENT PIECE
m A $1,000 CASE.

1t Made Hi. Fortune at Faro-Then 1t
Caused the Death of - friend-How
Itwa. Lost aud Pound is the Wild. Of
the West.
Ia that part Of Fifth svenue where all the
bouse, aru pslaces there l. one owned by a
millionaire from the Pacific slope vino after
suIa>slng "a foftGne, came 10 this city t. enjoy
the luxury which great wealth put at his diS-
lS,sal Eeyoni the pariors, which are filed
with rare objects Of art from all over the
world, the rich man has his study. The most
notlceabie thing IN the room is Il small table
which stands next TO big rosewood desk.
There Is nothing on the table save an sN-
lulsiteiy carved gold case with glass lid
lTNde the casc, resting ON the soft velvet, lies
s common everyday quarter Of - dollar. A
few days ago, while a reporter was inter
viewing the California millionaire Oh ques-
ton Of western politics, he found it mpoSsi-
hie 10 Keep his ewes from wandering II the
sl,oJc case and its twenty five cent piece.
The millionaire, seeing the reporters evident
curiosity, took the piece Of money from ltS
satin lined resting place ana handing 1t to
the reporter said:
You see that this coin is marked in such
way that there is no mistskinS 1t. The let
tiers q. W, with a star before and after them,
were deeply engraved Ia the center OF the
plece Of money! Ii WIS the first given me in
San Franrisco III a saloon. | gave the bar
keeper IS gold piece ami among the change
! noticed this marked coin. picked it out
and putting il ia another pocket remarked
To my friends that would keep it as packet
piece. WAS as poor as poverty III those
hays, hut, like every one else, played faro
every time | had money enough to buy n
stack of CHIPS That night got round to
jim Moons game, and. ss usual, before quit
l WIS cleaned out and had not dollar left
IN the world The next morning when went to
work | was told thst the man who employed
me had decided to move 10 Sacramento
and NY valuable services were no longer
needed | had hal no breakfast. and began
feeling in my enpty pockets for some stray
coin 20 get a cup Of coffee. To my intense
surprise ! found that quarter. then sat
down snd argued with myself whether |
should spend my last cent TO get something to
sat on if should 20 back to the faro bank,
where had lost my money the night before,
and make a final effort to pull l.out square.
FORTUNE FOR % CENTS
The gambling passion was strong in me
forty years ago, and l decided to take the
chances and bet my last quarter. Back 10
the gambling hell hurried. The game had
just oDenei, and the first turn of the cards
was just being made. Dollar chips Were the
smallest Ones in use then. So threw down
my quarter between the q, and 5, and then
went over to the sideboard and poured my
self out glass of whisky, determined 10 have
q drink for my money anyway. When |
went hack to the table found two chips in
the place OF INV % cents / reached over TO
pick them up, but before l could do 80 the
dealer turned the cards and again | won l
played without thought Of my empty stomach
for three hours and quit with $40. Before
leaving ! paid the dealer 81 for my marked
quarter. Then i went out and had break
fast fit for the gods. Every day fer two
weeks | gambled and every day won. |
kept that coin always with me, and soon /
had over g., 600 in canvas bag. Ono ulght,
| was leaving the game, l met an Old
woman who begged from me money enough
90 get something TO eat. had, as usual, been
winning and was flushed with success. To re-
fuse = woman money for food when luck was
sil running my way seemed heartless, 50 l
reached down in my pocket and gave hcG the
frs: coin 1 met When | reached home l
seached everywhere for my luckpiece, but 1t
was gone l had given it to the heggar
woman. The next day lost heavily and de-
tsrmined TO plsy 40 more until found my
quarter II seemed q hopeless task - find
one particular piece Of money, nut l never
gave up hope aad ALWAYS looked carefully at
every piece of money 1 received in change
At last / was successful In the same bar
room where1 first got my quarter | received
it again | was SO elated that treated the
house TO champagne. That night, for the
last time In my life, l gambled a: cards and
Wen 5000 1 went TO Nevada soon after
and began to speculate i'll mines and III the
course of time l made what people call bo-
lama fortune.
A FATAL STROKE OF LUCK.
. The only other time that quarter ever left
me lost the best friend ever had. Poor
fellow he never had any luck, everything he
S.uchei failed, and when met him Ill Vir
GINA City two years after his arrival on the
Pacific slope he was in ss hard luck as any
man ever saw. l put him in the way OF
making some money, Lut everything he got
he lost at faro. One day be heard Inc tell the
story of my quarter and asked me 20 loan it
promised not to part with the coin, 50 l
granted his request. He went to the game
and put g piece with my quarter on II in
the pot, that is, between the ace, deuce king
and queen. He then folded his arms and
rested his bead on them. Turn after turn
was made, Yet lie never once looked up. As
card after card Was turned murlnurs of sur
yuise passed arol I'D the table. The men on
each side of my friend nudged him, but lie
never raised his head. The whole four cards
won out and when the deal was over my
friend had sl0, i52 piled up III the middle Of
the table The dealer asked him to rake !
down his money and let the new deal begin.
Yet he never moved. Some one, thinking ne
was drunk and had gone TO sleep, shook hin.
roughly by the shoulder. Heavily he fell 10
the floor. Every rough man there was
shocksd to find him dead The strain had
been too much for him, and his heart had
stopped beating. Later l cashed his chips
and sent them 10 his mother, who died think
ing her son Lad earned il by hard work.
had To pay the gambler 500 for my quarter,
and il has never left NE since. New York
Mail and Express.